Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many soldiers were recruited to the Army Reserve in 2016.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Intake figures to the Army Reserve during the calendar year 2016 are currently being validated ahead of publication as official statistics on 9 February 2017.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the rate of suicide among UK armed forces personnel who have seen active service in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Ministry of Defence takes the mental health and well-being of its personnel very seriously. Our policy aims to reduce suicide risk through education, tackling stigma, and providing rapid, easily accessible, and flexible access to mental health support and health care services.
For the period 1 August 2002 to 31 December 2015, the rate of coroner confirmed suicides and open verdict deaths amongst those who had previously deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan and were still in Service at the time of their death was 0.9 per 1,000. This compared to a rate of 1.6 per 1,000 for those UK service personnel who have not been identified as having deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan prior to their death.
The 'Suicide and Open Verdict Deaths in the UK Regular Armed Forces 1984-2015' National Statistics Notice published in March 2016 shows that over the past 30 years, male suicide rates among the UK regular Armed Forces have been lower than the UK general population. In 2014, the male suicide rate in the UK general population was 16.8 per 100,000 compared to a UK Armed Forces rate of 4 per 100,000.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to provide a dedicated 24-hour mental health helpline for serving soldiers.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is absolutely committed to looking after the mental health of our Armed Forces, and provides a range of community-based health care in line with national best practice. We appreciate that personnel with mental health issues might need access to help outside normal working hours, and we provide this by working in close partnership with a variety of different organisations, including the NHS and Service charities.
In most areas of the UK, immediate out of hours care includes the free 24-hour mental health helpline run by the charity Combat Stress (which receives funding from MOD), and the Big White Wall, a 24-hour online community. In Northern Ireland, we provide MOD-managed telephone support for Service personnel for primary healthcare, as there is no contracted independent service provider for this type of health care in that part of the UK.
In the most serious cases, where urgent treatment is required, we are able to arrange emergency admittance to one of eight specialised inpatient NHS mental health units, under a contract between MOD and a consortium of NHS Trusts. These units have a range of dedicated facilities for military personnel, and admission can be arranged at any time of day or night.
We believe that these arrangements are robust and effective, and there are therefore no plans to provide an additional helpline.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money has been received from the sale of former military sites and bases in Northern Ireland to date.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Since 2005 the Ministry of Defence has received around £117 million in disposal receipts from the sale of surplus sites in Northern Ireland.
All transactions were carried out in accordance with the Hillsborough Agreement.
Over the same period, the Department gifted four bases to the Northern Ireland Executive with an estimated total combined value of £21 million. As outlined in a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS509) released on 4 February 2016, there is also intent to gift an additional 59 surplus Service Family Accommodation units to the Northern Ireland Executive, with a combined value of £3.5 million.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent progress has been made in establishing a credit union for military personnel.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Philip Dunne), in the House of Commons on 2 November 2015 to Question 13242.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-10-23/13242/
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many service personnel (1) on operational development, and (2) in total, were garrisoned in Northern Ireland in the latest period for which figures are currently available.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
A total of 2,190 United Kingdom regular service personnel were stationed in Northern Ireland as at 1 April 2015. Further details, including a breakdown by service and by local authority area are published in our quarterly location statistics; the latest release can be found at the following address:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/428656/qls_apr15.pdf
UK regular forces, including those based in Northern Ireland, are liable for overseas deployment. The numbers committed to operations constantly varies depending on levels of operational activity and the contribution from Service personnel stationed in Northern Ireland reflects this variability.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made on meeting obligations to veterans in accordance with the Military Covenant.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The majority of service-leavers make a successful transition into civilian life, due in no small part to the ethos and skills they develop during their Service careers. For those who struggle, the Government is committed to ensuring they receive the support they need and are treated with the dignity they deserve.
One of the key tenets of the Covenant is that the Armed Forces community should, in some cases, be afforded special consideration. That is why, subject to clinical need, veterans receive priority care from NHS England and in the Devolved Administrations.
Over the past five years we have allocated £40 million to support veterans with accommodation needs. In addition, the Chancellor announced in March that a new £25 million fund would be set up, to which charities can apply to assist our elderly veterans. These are the people to whom our nation turned at the most perilous moments in our history, and it is absolutely right that we recognise their needs now.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many soldiers serving in the Army Reserve have left in each year since 2012.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The total number recruited into the Army Reserve (officers and soldiers) between 2012 and 2015 is 12,130.
This breaks down as:
2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | |
Total | 3,960 | 2,960 | 5,210 |
The total number leaving the Army Reserve (officers and soldiers) since 2012 is 12,680.
This breaks down as:
2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | |
Total | 4,710 | 4,620 | 3,350 |
All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many soldiers were recruited to the Army Reserve between 2012 and 2015.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The total number recruited into the Army Reserve (officers and soldiers) between 2012 and 2015 is 12,130.
This breaks down as:
2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | |
Total | 3,960 | 2,960 | 5,210 |
The total number leaving the Army Reserve (officers and soldiers) since 2012 is 12,680.
This breaks down as:
2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | |
Total | 4,710 | 4,620 | 3,350 |
All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent to help members of the armed forces living in Northern Ireland with their transition back to civilian life in each of the last three years; and how much of that sum was spent on housing.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
Assisting our former Service personnel transition to civilian life is of major importance, as indeed is having in place a robust and effective resettlement system that helps our Service personnel on a number of levels.
While the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not centrally record how much is spent on transitioning Service personnel to civilian life, the following table shows the number of individuals with a Northern Ireland postcode who have taken advantage of the services offered by the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and are in employment.
CTP Programme | BT Postcodes Placements in Northern Ireland | BT Postcodes Placements Outside Northern Ireland or unknown location | ||||
Year | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Employment Support Programme | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Full Support Programme | 95 | 130 | 112 | 76 | 74 | 89 |
BT postcodes placements outside NI or ‘unknown location’ – means individuals have recorded a NI address but their work location is outside NI (i.e. they may have a permanent residence in NI which they return to at weekends or holidays or they have not informed CTP of a permanent change of address)
The Employment Support Programme is for those who have served more than four but less than six years. These individuals do not receive the Individual Resettlement Training Costs Grant nor do they have an entitlement to Graduated Resettlement Time (i.e. paid time off for vocational training). However, they can take advantage of the many briefings available and they are supported in their search for employment by the CTP consultants and Job Finding Service, including access to the online jobs portal ‘RightJob’. They can also take advantage of resettlement training courses on a ‘standby’ basis in their own time.
Service personnel who have served for six years or more are entitled to the Full Support Programme. This entitles them to the Individual Resettlement Training Costs Grant (IRTC) which is worth £534 per person.
In addition, Service Leavers may claim Travel and Subsistence costs during their training; the amount of training is dependent on length of service up to a maximum of 35 days for those who have served for 16 years or more.
The Joint Service Housing Advice Office (JSHAO) is the MOD’s tri-Service focal point set up to provide Service personnel and their families with civilian housing information for those wishing to move to civilian accommodation at any point in their career, and to those during Armed Forces Resettlement to assist the transition to civilian life. Delivered through briefings, Housing Matters magazine publication, and one to one discussions where necessary. JSHAO also manages the MOD Referral Scheme supporting social housing in conjunction with Local Authorities and Housing Associations. The cost for providing advice is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.